How to Write a Stream from Fluent FFmpeg to a Variable and then Pipe it to an AWS PUT URL

When working with video processing tasks, sometimes you need to write a stream from Fluent FFmpeg to a variable, which can be piped to a specific destination. In this article, we will explore how to achieve this using Node.js and the Fluent FFmpeg library.

The Problem: 'You cannot pipe to this stream after the outbound request has started' Error

When trying to write a stream from Fluent FFmpeg to a variable, you may encounter an error stating that you cannot pipe to this stream after the outbound request has started. This can be frustrating when you need to process video files and send them to a specific destination.

The Solution: Using Fluent FFmpeg with Node.js and Request Library

To solve this issue, we will use the Fluent FFmpeg library in combination with the Request library in Node.js. The goal is to write a stream from Fluent FFmpeg to a variable and then pipe it to an AWS PUT URL.

Here's an example code snippet that demonstrates how to achieve this:

```javascript

const ffmpeg = require('fluent-ffmpeg');

const request = require('request');

const video = '/Users/xorain/Documents/test_videos/movie.mp4';

const putURL = 'https://example.com/put-url';

const outputPipe = ffmpeg(video)

.format('mp4')

.size('640x480')

.outputOptions('

'-c:v libx264',

'-crf 18'

.on('end', () => {

console.log('Stream ended');

})

.pipe(request.put(putURL), { end: true });

```

In this example, we first require the Fluent FFmpeg and Request libraries. We then define the input video file, output URL, and configure the output options using the Fluent FFmpeg library.

The `on('end', () => { ... })` event listener is used to detect when the stream has ended, which can be useful for debugging purposes.

Finally, we use the `pipe()` method to pipe the output from Fluent FFmpeg to the Request library's PUT request. The `{ end: true }` option ensures that the stream is properly ended after writing all the data.

In this article, we have demonstrated how to write a stream from Fluent FFmpeg to a variable and then pipe it to an AWS PUT URL using Node.js and the Request library. By following these steps, you can efficiently process video files and send them to specific destinations without encountering errors related to piping streams.

Remember to adjust the code snippet according to your specific requirements and file paths. Happy coding!

Fluent ffmpeg write stream to variable